Wednesday, June 24, 2009

No water & fodder forcing farmers to sell cattle

25 Jun 2009, 0433 hrs IST, Ramu Bhagwat, TNN

NAGPUR: With the monsoon not keeping date with Vidarbha, the fodder and water situation has become precarious. Reports from across Vidarbha say that farmers, who unable to buy the high-priced fodder, were selling their cattle. Senior officials from at least two farmers suicide-affected districts — Yavatmal and Wardha — confirmed that the fodder situation worsened because of the delay in rains and said emergency measures of setting up fodder depots were being taken up in the scarcity-hit areas.

With monsoon recording the longest-ever delay in the decade, water sources have nearly gone dry as reservoir levels have depleted to a low of 3-10% in Nagpur and Amravati. The weather department’s grim forecast of at least another week’s delay has triggered panic among farmers. “While travelling to Nagpur I saw a farmer in a Wardha village going in for distress sale of his cow,” said Nitin Khadse, a farm activist from Jalka village in Yavatmal district, on Wednesday.

“Truckloads of cattle are finding their way into slaughter houses of Hyderabad from the bordering Yavatmal district,” claimed Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti president Kishore Tiwari. He said agents from Adilabad in AP were buying healthy buffaloes and cows between Rs 3000 and Rs 8000 from all over Vidarbha. Mainly the cotton cultivators, who do not grow other crops like jowar, have no access to fodder which is in acute short supply. Some farmers are also selling bullocks hoping to buy tractors by availing bank loans later.

Yavatmal collector Sanjay Deshmukh and his Wardha counterpart Anupkumar Yadav admitted that the fodder situation has worsened in the last few days. “I have sent an urgent message to the government to take steps to declare the entire district scarcity-affected,” Deshmukh told TOI . “As per norms emergency fodder supply depots are set up only in areas declared scarcity-hit. Till now, 660 villages in six talukas of Yavatmal have been declared scarcity-hit to qualify for supply of subsidised fodder,” he explained. He has sought permission for extending the facility to the entire district in view of the precarious situation. Soya stalks are used for feeding cattle but the stocks have exhausted and delay in rains has only added to the problem.

Yadav said he has instructed officials to review the situation and set up fodder depots where ever necessary. “In the last couple of days I have received complaints from people’s representatives about acute fodder shortage,” he said. Natural farming expert Subhash Palekar has appealed to the farmers not to dispose of cows and bullocks as they form integral part of low-budget agriculture. “One cow of indigenous breed is enough for a farmer to give up using chemical fertilisers and cultivate 30 acres of land by zero-budget natural method. Moreover, use of tractors in dry-land farming is not good as it destroys of the soil structure,” said Palekar. Abandoning of traditional crops like jowar whose stalks are used as fodder has led to the fodder crisis, he said.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Frog marriage solemnised for rain showers in Nagpur

Nagpur, June 20 (ANI): A number of farmers seeking rainfall in Nagpur city organised wedding of two frogs on Saturday to please the Rain Gods and hoped their region would soon receive monsoon showers.

People blew trumpets and sang songs, as the priest solemnized the marriage to the chanting of Hindu hymnby putting streaks of vermilion on the female toad's head.

The toads were picked up from different ponds, following the local belief among the farmers in this part of India that a frog marriage pleases the Rain Gods and ensure a good harvest with rains.

Locals hoped the marriage would help them to end the dry spell that the region is experiencing.Our forefathers believed that marriage of male and female frogs makes Lord Indra (Rain God) happy that leads to rains. You can see that it is not raining in the entire Vidarbha, eastern region of Maharashtra state made up of Nagpur divison and Amravati division that has caused a drought like division. We are following this belief of our forefathers so that Lord Indra is pleased and it rains," said Shailendra Awasthi, a participant in the marriage.

With temperatures soaring high and monsoons playing truant in northern and western parts of the country, people are praying hard for showers.

"It was sunny when we came in the morning for performing marriage. But now you can see the weather has changed. It means it will rain. We hope so," said Ankita Bhatia, a participant in the frog marriage. By Sunil Kumar (ANI)

Monday, June 15, 2009

MADC under fire over land allotment

16 Jun 2009, 0651 hrs IST, Ashish Roy, TNN

NAGPUR: The Union ministry of corporate affairs has sought an explanation from Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) regarding a complaint lodged by the Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti (VJAS). The samiti has alleged that there was favouritism by MADC in allotment of land to big companies, including allotment of land before it was acquired by MADC and causing loss to the exchequer by giving land at discounted prices.

MADC is developing Mihan and a SEZ near the city. The assistant registrar of companies, Mumbai, has said in a notice sent to MADC that the complaint lodged by VJAS prima facie shows that “there is material indicative of violation of Companies Act, 1956.”

The ministry has warned that if it does not receive a reply or if the reply was not relevant to the points raised by the complainant, or was haphazard or evasive, then it would take legal action against the company.

VJAS president Kishor Tiwari has alleged that MADC exhibited favouritism in allotment of land to big companies. Many companies were given land at throwaway prices, thus causing huge loss to the public exchequer, Tiwari alleged. He also claimed that allotment of land was started before completion of the acquisition process, and land was ‘reserved’ for certain companies without following due process of law.

Tiwari has said that many of these companies also raised bank loans amounting to crores of rupees by showing ownership of land allotted by MADC, even though at that time MADC itself had not become the lawful owner of the land.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Now vidarbha cotton farmers are in deep worry as it’s a delayed monsoon, at least for central India hence they are now beating drum before "varun devata-water god" as this is common practice that all womens along with drums are going with water to please the water god so that monsoon become active and it rain . good monsoon is lifeline of vidarbha dry land farmers as there was very low monsoon rain last year ,there is acute water problem all over central india. There are no signs of the south-west monsoon reaching Vidarbha and central India for another 7-10 days. Although monsoon had touched Kerala on May 23, the weather systems which bring monsoon rains in central India have become extremely weak. Normally monsoon reaches Nagpur, the centre of the country, between June 10-15 but it has weakened after reaching Ratnagiri with no sign of any progress.

According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), it would be at least another week before the monsoon reached vidarbha . As there is a disruption in the flow pattern monsoon has not advanced ,heat wave is continued in vidarbha. this delay will certainly effect crop pattern in west vidarbha as low rain will have severe impact on vidarbha cash crop cotton and soybean .

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Despite aid, Kalavati remains a supplicant

11 Jun 2009, 0424 hrs IST, Shishir Arya, TNN

NAGPUR: Kalavati Bandurkar, who would once wait patiently at the Yavatmal highway for a bus to reach a neighbouring hamlet, flew down from Delhi to Nagpur on Wednesday. The woman Rahul Gandhi visited and then mentioned in the Parliament came out of the arrival terminal wearing a crumpled sari and slippers. Journalists eagerly waited for her even as they ignored a newly-elected member of parliament welcomed by a host of supporters.

An exhausted Kalavati complained of dizziness, probably result of the flight. She could hardly speak as scribes pounded her with questions. At the same time, the meek old Kalavati now had a tinge of arrogance as she demanded more.

Then a widow leading a hand-to-mouth existence, Kalavati's finances have improved manifold but she seems now caught in a different kind of vicious circle. She has now become a favourite of NGOs, keen to project her as the posterwoman of their cause. In some ways, she has become a welfare addict, more dependent on others than before. Back in her village Jalka, she has only earned ire and envy.

She was taken to Delhi by an organisation called Wada Na Todo, working for upliftment of the extremely poor, to speak on behalf of the underprivileged. A few months ago, Greenpeace chose her as its ambassador for championing the cause of renewable energy. Similarly Bindeshwar Pathak's Sulabh International announced a grant of Rs 33 lakh to her family of which Rs 6 lakh have been remitted so far.

At Delhi, she also hoped to meet Rahul Gandhi but could not as he had a busy schedule. But she spoke her heart out to the media, lamenting that she still did not have a proper house to live. "The politicians who met me after (Rahul's) visit had promised to take care of my children's education. They did not turn up later while the repeated visits to the block development officer (BDO) to get a house built did not yield any results." she said. "I also want a convent and a hospital in the village," she adds.

Kalavati also agrees that no one compels her to speak on behalf of other villagers. But the Delhi visit seems to have further alienated her from the rest of the village. "Villagers are of the view that she should stop asking for more. She has already received Rs 6 lakh from Sulabh and now a home is to be built for her. Some are planning to demand that the amount she would be getting from Sulabh be used for village's development as it was too much for her," said a fellow villager. "There are many others who are in equal distress as Kalavati and they are naturally getting envious of her," added another.

Kalavati though says she deserves what she is asking for because none other than Rahul Gandhi had visited her. "It was only then others came to my house, Congress leader Manikrao Thakre had assured to take care of my needs. He should keep his word now," she said. She added that out of the Rs 6 lakh she received, only half remains in the bank. When asked if that was that not enough, she broke down, saying "Rahul Gandhi gave me of his own will, I did not beg for any help."

She accepts that she would have been the same Kalavati if Rahul had not reached her house. But now things are changed, she adds.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Vidarbha cotton growers `Daphade wajava’ beat drums for crop loans

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/3372238

Hunderds of credit starved cotton farmer 'Daphade wajava' beat drums to ‘awaken’ bankers for crop loan before State Bank of India Patanbori branch in Vavatmal district of Maharashtra received bumper response as there is huge unrest due to the delay and obstructions created by banks which has completely nullified the benefits of the loan waiver scheme as most eligible farmers have not been able to get fresh crop loans for the upcoming sowing season

In a novel agitation, distressed farmers in Yavatmal district in urgent need of crop loans has done the drums beati on Wednesday. “This is a desperate attempt to wake up the bank officials who are deep into slumber,” said Kishor Tiwari, President of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), which is spearheading the cotton growers cause in the Vidarbha region.

Challenging the government ‘s claim that there was no funds crisis and there was no need to panic as co-operative banks were in a position to lend money ,Tiwari pointed out that hundreds of farmers have denied agricultural advance banks are not giving crop loan.

The VJAS alleged that co-operative banks were strapped of cash and cited the instance of a Pusad co-opweative bank which had cleared loan applications of 600 farmers a month ago but has till date not been able to actuality disburse the amount. Similarly farmers at Ner, Patn, Sawaekheda, Jodmoha, Ghatanji and Maregaon who were unable to secure the crop loans from the banks had no alternative but to borrow from private moneylenders as the kharif seadon has arrived and rains are expected anytime now.

The delay and obstructions created by banks have completely nullified benefits of the loan waiver scheme as most eligible farmers are not able to get fresh crop loans. Tiwari demanded that the Congress-led government should get out of the poll celebrations modeand give serious thought to the needs of poor cotton growers of Vidarbha. To complicate matters, he deplored that secretaries of the co-operative societies have resorted to strike bringing to halt processing of loans cases for last two weeks.

The June 4 agitation was to serve as warning, if the banks do not start disbursing loans to farmers after that, we will intensify the agitation,” said an agitating farmer leader Suresh Bolenwar of Pandharkawda in Yavatmal district. After state bank officials agree to give fresh crop loan to all illegible farmers, the farmers suspended 'Daphade wajava' beat drums.

“We will resume drum beating agitation before all cooperatives banks as they have till not started the loan disbursement”, Kishore said. (EOM)